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Temporary ban will give the state time to address environmental concerns.

This week, the New York State Assembly approved a temporary moratorium on the controversial natural gas exploration technique known as "fracking." Combining hydraulic fracturing with horizontal drilling, fracking uses large quantities of water and chemicals to blast through the earth's surface and uncover natural gas reserves. The moratorium is aimed at the Marcellus Shale field,......read more

We've known for a while that fracking was doing some funny things to our drinking water. Now the EPA has come out of the closet on the issue and made it official. In a landmark report released this week, the EPA declared that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is causing groundwater pollution in the Wind River aquifer, located in the Pavillion region of Wyoming, where locals have complained of......read more

In a case of NIMBYism doing good, a New York court rules in favor of a regional ban on gas drilling

Good news for fracking opponents in New York state this week, as an N.Y. Supreme Court judge ruled that the upstate town of Dryden is within its rights to ban a company from drilling for natural gas within its borders.
Last August, Dryden's Town Board passed a drilling ban and was sued a month later by the Anschutz Exploration Corporation, whose lawyers argued that the town had no power to......read more

Is all dirty energy created equal? Mitch Flexo dishes out eco report cards for non-renewable power

As stated in The Energy Manifesto, energy accounts for more than its fair share of greenhouse gas emissions, so it's of paramount importance in the grand scheme of tackling climate change. The answer of course is a massive shift to renewable energy, but I'm fairly certain when I wake up tomorrow morning we will be nowhere near to meeting our energy demands from renewable sources. If, for now,......read more

Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune for Huffington Post:
You know what natural gas smells like. Or do you? Natural gas is actually odorless. That rotten-egg smell is added for safety reasons. Otherwise, you might not notice a potentially deadly gas leak.If only we could add a similar smell to the natural gas industry. Too many people -- especially politicians -- aren't paying attention......read more

Fracking took a beating yesterday, when New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, on the heels of a stern recommendation from the state’s acting health commissioner, announced his intention to ban the unconventional drilling method.
But even if he’d failed to do so, frackers would’ve been effectively barred from a large number of the state’s communities, anyway. That’s......read more